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Aug 18, 2026 11:25 PM
As Dabo Swinney resists the transfer portal era, a looming LSU showdown and mounting pressure could force a legacy-defining reckoning for Clemson’s high-priced national champion coach.
Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney has another opportunity to prove the haters wrong this fall.
After a 7-6 season in 2025, Swinney believes his group of nobodies can develop into a strong team by the time the regular season starts. The Tigers will get an immediate reality check when traveling to play LSU in Week 1.
Outside of Week 1, Clemson only plays one ranked team (No. 7 Miami) for the rest of its schedule. If all goes well, the Tigers could make a run for the ACC championship and College Football Playoff.
During "Josh Pate's College Football Show" on Sunday, Pate discussed Swinney potentially being on the hot seat if Clemson underperforms this season like they did last year. It's for him to judge the situation given his unique position in college football as a two-time national champion head coach who has failed to adjust to the transfer portal.
"And then there's the Dabo Swinney piece at Clemson, and honestly, I have no idea how that would go," Pate said. That is its own planet. That hot seat conversation, if it got to that with Dabo, if they had another subpoena year, would be its own planet. I have no idea.
"Dabo Swinney is like one of one in terms of the current landscape of existing head coaches and how it would be handled if it started to go downhill."
Over the offseason, Swinney has defended his resume at Clemson.
"We've won 11 (ACC) championships in the last 15 years, and then you have a season like last year, and that's what everyone wants to focus on," Swinney said at the ACC media kickoff event in July.
"We're 151-7 when we lead in the fourth quarter, and 2 of those 7 (losses) were last year."
There's no doubt that Swinney will go down as a legendary coach, but Clemson is paying him too much money not to compete for the CFP. The risk of being fired for subpar seasons comes with the territory of being paid the sixth-highest salary in the sport.
The question remains: can Swinney turn around the program before the buyout doesn't become as costly?
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